Computing the climate: how we know what we know about climate change
- New York: Cambridge University Press, 2023.
- x, 335p.: col. ill.; pbk.: 23cm
Includes references & index
How do we know that climate change is an emergency? How did the scientific community reach this conclusion all but unanimously, and what tools did they use to do it? This book tells the story of climate models, tracing their history from nineteenth-century calculations on the effects of greenhouse gases, to modern Earth system models that integrate the atmosphere, the oceans, and the land using the full resources of today's most powerful supercomputers. Drawing on the author's extensive visits to the world's top climate research labs, this accessible, non-technical book shows how computer models help to build a more complete picture of Earth's climate system. 'Computing the Climate' is ideal for anyone who has wondered where the projections of future climate change come from – and why we should believe them.
Written in a clear, non-technical narrative style that makes climate science accessible to a wide audience Provides a 'big picture”' overview, showing how various scientific discoveries link together to better our understanding of climate change Illustrates how key discoveries in climate science were made, linking technical work to its broader social and historical context Describes the author's personal journey into understanding the people and ideas behind climate models and making his own contributions